Erin Gleason: The Innovation 50

Erin Gleason is a self-described "one-woman show" at venture capital firm Founders Fund, which backs startups across sectors such as consumer Internet and media, analytics and software, aerospace, and biotechnology. Founders Fund brought on Gleason in February for its first in-house communications position so she could offer guidance to its portfolio companies, which include Facebook, Lyft, Spotify, and TaskRabbit. She is also in charge of branding and marketing efforts for the San Francisco-based firm.

With her deep roots in the technology scene, Gleason is up for the job. Before this, she was an account supervisor at The Hatch Agency, a tech PR firm serving clients such as Dropbox and Beats by Dre. She was also an early hire of Foursquare, overseeing PR efforts as the company grew its user base from one million to more than 45 million. She began her career at Google and worked as a deputy field organizer for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.